If you'd like a real printed book, the best I've seen so far is Simon Stafford's D3200 Guide. It's a smallish book perfect to take in your bag loaded with precise specifics about how to use the D3200. It's also got a few punch--out plasticised cards to keep in your wallet. It's much better than most of the guides I've seen which are mostly generic picture-taking guides with just a picture of one camera on the cover and in the title.

Be sure to press OK after changing or selecting either, otherwise your Picture Control changes won't be saved.

Image Quality

BASIC.

BASIC JPGs look the same as FINE or NORMAL JPGs, but take up only 1/2 to 1/4 the space.

Image Size

Small (6 MP or 3,008 x 2,000 pixels).

No one needs 24 Megapixels, or even the MEDIUM setting of 13.5 MP.

I make plenty of 20 x 30" (50 x 75 cm) prints from 6MP cameras, and they look great. Set down to 6MP, the D3200 makes even sharper images than native 6 MP cameras, and I've seen great 40 x 60" (1 x 1.5 meter) prints made from the 6MP D40.

By setting the smaller resolution, everything about transferring, storing, backing-up, selecting and editing your images runs much, much faster than if you leave the camera at its defaults.

At the default of LARGE NORMAL you get 6 MB files, while at SMALL BASIC, I get pictures which look identical with only 700 kB of data.

White Balance

I use Auto White Balance, but set it to look warmer (more orange) because I prefer it.

Maximum Sensitivity > 6,400. The D3200 looks swell at ISO 6,400 when it needs it. Set a higher value, like Hi 1, to let the D3200 use a higher ISO in dim light to trade grainer pictures for less long-shutter-speed blur, or a lower value, like 3,200, to prevent more grain at the expense of potentially blurrier photos.

Minimum Shutter Speed > Auto. This lets the D3200 pick the best slowest shutter speed based on your zoom setting, and is optimized for landscapes, portraits, and other subjects that hold still. For kid and moving people photos, I set 1/125 to stop action better, and for sports, I set 1/250 to stop action.

Active D-Lighting

This lightens shadows and controls washed-out highlights.

I set it ON. It makes all pictures look better.

Auto Distortion Control

This keeps straight lines from curving, if caused by lens limitations.

I set it ON.

Movie Settings

By default, the D3200 makes huge 1080/30p HD files. For more reasonably-sized files, use the 640x424 and Normal quality settings.

The D3200 has no external autofocus mode controls, except for the rear AF-Area selector, which is only active in some special modes. Otherwise, the only external AF contreol might be an AF/MF switch on your lens.

Therefore, most of the AF system is set in menus:

AF-A, AF-S and AF-C Modes

These control how the D3200 focuses: does it focus and lock (AF-S), does it keep focusing in and out (AF-C), or do you let it figure this out for itself automatically (AF-A)?

Left as-is, the D3200 is set perfectly. It defaults to the AF-A mode, which automatically selects between the older AF-S (single focus and lock, best for still subjects) and AF-C (continuous tracking autofocus, best for moving subjects) modes.

If you want to select among the AF-S, AF-C and AF-A modes, do it by pressing either the INFO or < i > buttons, then the < i > button to highlight the adjustments on the right side of the screen, then click down to the AF-A (Focus Mode) option, click OK, and now you can select among them.

By default, the D3200 magically makes its best guess about which of the 11 AF areas to use, and lights up those AF areas in the finder.

The D3200 usually guesses correctly in this mode, but if it's being distracted by extraneous foreground elements, we can force the D3200 to use the sensors we prefer in three other modes.

You can select these areas manually, but not in this default Auto-area select mode.

To change this mode, press either the INFO or < i > buttons, then the < i > button to highlight the adjustments along the right side of the screen, then click down to the white rectangular box (AF-area mode), and press OK. Now we can select among:

Single-point AF ( [ o ] icon)

With this option, you selected just one AF point to use with the rear selector. It lights in red in the finder, and the D3200 uses only that one sensor to focus.

Select the AF point with the rear thumb control. As you change the selections, they light in red in the finder. Push the center button, and the D3200 selects the central sensor. Once selected in this mode, the D3200 always uses the same AF sensor until you change it.

Dynamic-area AF ( [ - o - ] icon)

This is the same as Single-point AF, except that this mode allows the focus point to move around automatically to track a moving subject.

Select the AF point with the rear thumb control. As you change the selections, they light in red in the finder. Push the center button, and the D3200 selects the central sensor. Once selected in this mode, the D3200 always starts focusing with the same AF sensor, and it will track around the finder as it needs to. If you let off the shutter and then press it again, the D3200 will start focusing from the same selected point as before.

3D-tracking AF (3D icon)

Same as above, but smarter. The D3200 sees in both color and depth, and does and even better job of tracking a moving subject around the finder.

This mode is very helpful even with a subject that's not moving: focus with the central sensor, and as you recompose, the D3200 swaps AF sensors automatically to select the one that's now over the subject in the new composition!

Select the AF point with the rear thumb control. As you change the selections, they light in red in the finder. Push the center button, and the D3200 selects the central sensor. Once selected in this mode, the D3200 always starts focusing with the same AF sensor, and it will track around the finder as it needs to. If you let off the shutter and then press it again, the D3200 will start focusing from the same selected point as before.

Auto-area AF (default, white box icon)

This is the default.

In Auto-area AF, the D3200 looks at the subject, does its best to guess where is your subject, and selects the best AF areas automatically.

I use this mode all the time. If it isn't working well, I go to 3D or Single-point and pick the AF area myself.

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